The present invention relates to a portable pen and related method of use for isolating a newborn calf from the calf's mother. More particularly, it relates to a portable pen and method of use that provides a user with a safe, enclosed area in which to attend to a newborn calf without fear of being attacked by the mother cow.
One of the many daily jobs associated with farming is attending to cows, along with other farm animals. Like most animals, cows instinctively seek to protect their newborn calves from harm, whether actual or perceived. Often times, the mother cow will attack or otherwise aggressively approach a human or animal that is attempting to interact with a newborn calf.
Due to their large size, the protective nature of a mother cow can prove highly dangerous to a farmhand. In particular, the farmer or cattleman must attend to a newborn calf shortly after birth and periodically thereafter. Where the newborn calf and mother cow are located in a relatively open area, it is virtually impossible for the farmhand to approach the newborn calf without being attacked by the mother cow.
One solution to the above problem is to isolate the calf from its mother. For example, most farms have immovable, permanently installed fences or pens. Once inside of the fenced area, the calf is effectively isolated from the mother cow. However, this technique still requires the farmhand to somehow guide the mother cow outside of the fenced area (and thus away from the calf), an action that the mother cow will resist. Conversely, it may be possible to place the calf on a platform or similar apparatus, and then transport the platform to a location away from the mother cow. Again, however, the farmhand is entirely unprotected from advances of the mother cow while loading the calf. Finally, calf-birthing pens have been suggested, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,385, in which the calf is immediately separated from its mother following birth. Unfortunately, the mother cow will likely resist being restrained within a birthing pen, possibly leading to complications during birth.
Attending to a newborn calf is a common task performed by farmers and cattlemen. A protective mother cow can make this task exceedingly dangerous. Unfortunately, suggested techniques for separating the newborn calf from the mother cow focus upon guiding or otherwise driving the mother cow away from the newborn calf and are normally resisted by the mother cow. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus and related method of use for isolating a newborn calf from its mother in a relatively non-obtrusive manner that provides the farmer or cattleman with full protection from the mother cow.